Rescue of the Danish Jews The Holocaust of WW2 is certain to be remembered as humanity's blackest chapter of the century - between 1941 and 1945, German dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazis murdered some 6 million Jews. Amidst the madness of war, there are moments of hope and illumination. In World War II, one such instance was the Danish Jewsï¿½ escape from Hitlerï¿½s genocidal plan to eradicate all Jews from Europe. The nobility of the human soul on a night when the Danes got truly fed up with the fï¿½hrer ... Danish Jews reached safety .. It's one of the great untold stories of World War II: In 1943, in German-occupied Denmark, the Danish people find out that all 7,500 Danish Jews are about to be rounded up and deported to German concentration camps. Danish citizens spontaneously make their own decision: it's not going to happen. And it didn't. Risking their own lives, the Danes quickly rallied round to save their fellow citizens, and almost all of the country's Jews were able to escape the clutches of the Nazis and find refuge in neutral Sweden.

In 1941, in the midst of World War II, the Germans began their "Final Solution" for the Jews. At that time there were 10 million Jews in the countries of German-occupied Europe. By 1945, less than half of that number were left alive. The Nazi goal was to exterminate the Jews and rule Europe in an ethnically "pure" German Empire. At the infamous Wannsee Conference near Berlin 20 January 1942, details of the mass murder plans were discussed. Documents from that conference are still in existence today. They list, country by country, the number of Jews in Europe. Against the entry for Denmark is the figure 5,600-the inaccurate Nazi estimate of the number of Jews in Denmark. Final Solution: Auschwitz Bergen-Belsen Belzec Sobibor Treblinka Denmark was a small idyllic country of 4 million people, with a history of taking in immigrants from countries such as Germany, Holland, Sweden, and Poland. Before the war, Denmark's small Jewish population was well integrated into the community. On April 9, 1940, Germany attacked Denmark.

From then until 1945, Denmark was under German occupation. Most Danes were pro-British and anti-Nazi, but they were also aware of the need to adjust to living in a German-dominated Europe. Danes and Germans quickly worked out the terms of occupation. King Christian X remained in Denmark, unlike his fellow monarchs in Norway and the Netherlands who fled to escape the Germans and establish resistance movements in England. The Danish government continued to rule. The Danes agreed to supply rich agricultural produce and other goods to the Germans. By the following year, however, a Danish resistance movement had begun, but it made little headway until 1943. Then the mood in Denmark began to change. German military targets and businesses working for the occupiers were hit by a wave of sabotage actions. There was also labor unrest, with massive strikes - widely supported by the populace - in many Danish cities. The King on his horse, followed by Danish citizens on bicycles The legend says that when the Germans ordered Jews in occupied Denmark to identify themselves by wearing armbands with yellow stars, King Christian X of Denmark and non-Jewish Danes thwarted the order by donning the armbands themselves.

A popular version of the legend has King Christian sporting an armband as he makes his daily morning horseback ride through the streets of Copenhagen, explaining to citizens that he wears the Star of David as a demonstration of the principal that all Danes are equal. And non-Jewish Danes respond to their king's example by wearing the armband as well, thus preventing the Germans from identifying Jewish citizens and rendering the order ineffective. Although the Danes did undertake heroic efforts to shelter their Jews and help them escape from the Nazis, there is no real-life example of the actions described by this legend. Danish citizens never wore the yellow badge, nor did King Christian ever threaten to don it himself. In fact, Danish Jews never wore the yellow badge either, nor did German officials ever issue an order requiring Danish Jews to display it. But the Danes engaged in symbolic gestures of defiance against their occupiers, such as wearing four coins tied together with red and white ribbons in their buttonholes. Red and white are the Danish colors, and four coins totalling nine ore represented the date of the occupation, April 9.

In the book Queen in Denmark by Anne Wolden-Rï¿½thinge the Danish Queen Margrethe II says about the legend:"It is a beautiful and symbolic story, but it is not true. The myth about the King wearing the star of David ... I can imagine that this could have originated from a typical remark by a Copenhagen errand boy on his bicycle: 'If they try to enforce the yellow star here, the King will be the first to wear it!' To me, the truth is an even greater honor for our country than the myth." King Christian X became a prominent figure for the real views of the majority of the Danish population. The King made it his practice to ride his horse alone through Copenhagen every morning to underline his continuing claims for national sovereignty, unarmed and without escort. He became a national symbol for rich and poor alike, a positive contrast to German militarism and to the cult of the Fuhrer. In fact King Christian rejected many aspects of the occupation, made speeches against the occupying force and became known as a protector of the Jews. In December 1941, after an arson at the synagogue in Copenhagen, he sent a letter of sympathy to Rabbi Marcus Melchior.

The welfare of the Danish Jews was of great importance to the king and the Danish government. "There is no Jewish question in Denmark" were the words of Foreign Minister Erik Scavenius to the German top Nazi Hermann Goring in autumn 1941. Tales of King Christian's snubbing of Hitler and the Nazis (some true and some apocryphal) began to circulate. When Hitler sent a letter of congratulations to King Christian X on the latter's 70th birthday in September 1942, the monarch's brief response ("My best thanks") was taken as an insult by Hitler, who recalled and replaced the German ambassador in Denmark. August 1943: Danish adaption to German occupation turned to resistance In August, 1943, a state of emergency was declared in Denmark, and the Nazis decided that they could now move against the Jews. In September Hitler approved the deportation of the Danish Jews. Werner Best of the SS, Hitler's chief in Denmark, received the final order to proceed with deportation of Jews to death camps, on Sept.28, 1943.

The Nazis were prepared to deport the 7,500 Jews, starting at 10 PM. on Oct.1, 1943. Georg F. Duckwitz, a German maritime attachï¿½, leaked out the order to Hans Hedtoft a Danish Social Democrat, who in turn warned C.B. Henriques, the head the Jewish Community. On September 29th, two days before the projected round up on Rosh HaShannah, the Jewish New Year, Dr. Marcus Melchior, the acting chief Rabbi of the Krystalgaade Synagogue, implored his stunned congregants and the whole Jewish community to go into hiding immediately. Two German passenger ships, docked in Copenhagenï¿½s port, were ready to ship approximately 5,000 Jews to Germany on their way to kz camp Theresienstadt. Buses were to take the remaining 2,500. The word was passed and many Danes offered their support, conveying warnings and finding places for the Jews to hide. Danes felt that persecution of minorities was a breach of Danish culture and they were not prepared to stand for it.

Danish Jewsï¿½ escape from Hitlerï¿½s genocidal plan From all strata of Danish society and in all parts of the country, clergymen, civil servants, doctors, store owners, farmers, fishermen and teachers protected the Jews. A united Lutheran Church openly and persistently challenged the German offensive. Many Torahs from Rabbi Melchiorï¿½s synagogue were hidden a few blocks away in the crypt of Trinity Church. Dr. Koster, who was in charge of Bispebjerg Hospital, was instrumental in arranging for hundreds of Jews to be hidden at the hospital before they made their escape to Sweden. The psychiatric building and the nurses' quarters were filled with refugees, who were all fed from the hospital kitchen. Virtually the entire medical staff at the hospital cooperated to save Jewish lives. Once it became known among Danes what the hospital was doing, money was donated from all over the country. The Danish police and coast guard also took sides with the oppressed by refusing to assist in the manhunt. Not to mention the Wehrmacht soldiers, some of whom looked the other way - moved by either compassion or bribes.

To make their escape, many refugees were driven to the coast in ambulances belonging to the hospital. Local fishermen agreed, for a price, to transport them to Sweden. But they weren't safe yet. Successfully completing the two-mile boat trip without being intercepted by German patrol boats was not easy. Gilleleje Gilleleje, one of the larger fishing harbours, lies at the northernmost point of the island of Zealand with train connections to Copenhagen. About one fifth of the Danish Jews escaped to Sweden via this village. Fishing boats as well as coastal freighters from the harbour took part. Jews were familiar with Gilleleje from summer holidays in the country and came to the area in droves. A committee of local people were quick to initiate rescue aid, even before representatives for the rescue groups in Copenhagen arrived. Many were needed to help find hiding places and food. One of the survivors, Leif Wassermann, was only five years old when his family, including his parents, grandparents and younger sister, fled to their coastal summer home in Gilleleje.

He later recalled how his father carried him down into the dark hull of the boat in the middle of the night, but he remembered the hushed voices, the cramped feeling as people crowded inside and the rotten smell of fish. They were rescued by Henny Sondig, the 19-year-old daughter of the boat manager, and the four-man crew of the the 20-ton lighthouse tender, named the Gerda III. `We stayed very low on the floor. We heard there were German patrols outside. We saw flashlights going through the windows,ï¿½ Wassermann recalled. Although the Gerda III was regularly boarded by German soldiers, the refugees were never discovered. The boat made more than a dozen trips with groups of five to 20 people crammed inside the hull - thus saving many Jewish families from annihilation.Leif Wassermann and his family were not able to return to their homeland until May 5, 1945, when Denmark was liberated. Years later he was appointed vice consul and commercial attache of the Danish government in New York. Adolf Eichmann and Werner Best Over the course of a few days, more than 7,000 Danish Jews reached safety in Sweden.

Only 481 were captured and sent to a Nazi prison at Theresienstadt. Conditions there were hard, but Theresienstadt was not a death camp. And The Danish acts of bravery did not end with those dramatic weeks in the fall of 1943. Danes continued to protect the unfortunate 481 Jews whom the Germans were able to capture. Danish officials convinced Adolf Eichmann via Werner Best to keep the Jews from Denmark away from Poland and the extermination camps. Best was interested in improving relations with the Danish authorities in light of the events in October. Eichmann was presumably hoping to present an idealized propaganda image to conceal the fact of mass genocide, which by 1943 had cost the lives of 3 million Jews. Almost all of the Danish Jews in the camp survived through the solicitude and support of the Danish civil service and church organizations. Month after month, the Danes sent over 700 packages of clothing, food and vitamins to the Jews in the camp. In June 1944, at the insistence of the Danish leadership, the Danish Red Cross inspected Theresienstadt to ascertain the condition of their Jewish compatriots.

Danish fishermen saving Jews The rescue of the Danish Jews is an inspiring story from a terrible time in human history. In most other Nazi-occupied countries, the Germans found it easy to deport the Jews. No one defended them the way the Danes did. Ninety-nine percent of the Jewish population was rescued and survived the war years, mostly in neutral Sweden and a few hundred in Theresienstadt under the distant but constantly protective concern of the Danes. Denmark was also different and special in another way. Almost everywhere else in Europe, returning Jews found their homes had been broken into, and everything of value stolen. When the Danish Jews returned , they discovered that their homes, pets, gardens and personal belongings were cared for by their neighbors. Georg Duckwitz honored by Israel Werner Best was arrested when Denmark was liberated in 1945, his death sentence was reduced to 12 years in jail, by Denmark's Supreme Court, he died in 1989. Georg Duckwitz after the war served as Germany's Ambassador to Denmark and was honored by Israel for his part in the rescue of Jews, he died in 1973. Mr.

Hans Hedtoft, the Danish politician and statesman, served as postwar Prime Minister of Denmark. Hans Hedtoft Hans Hedtoft was instrumental in saving the Danish Jews. As secretary of the Social Democratic party in 1935 Hans Hedtoft was elected to Parliament, but he resigned his seat in 1940, during the German occupation of Denmark in WWII. A member of the Danish resistance movement, Hedtoft became minister of social affairs in the first postwar government in 1945. He headed a Social Democratic government in 1947-50. Hedtoft again became prime minister in 1953, but died in Stockholm that year while attending a meeting of the Nordic Council. In Jerusalem, a boat-like monument was erected on the 25th anniversary of the rescue of Danish Jewry, and a school was named in Denmark's honor. Many cities and towns in Israel have a street or square commemorating the heroism of the Danes. Moreover, one of the prominent items on display in Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, is a small boat that was used to ferry Jews to safety in Sweden.

The boat is situated near the Righteous Alley, signifying rescue, hope, life - and trust in the human spirit. Its display is a tribute to the Danes who made the difference during the most tragic period in the last century. In Copenhagen's Israelplads there is a monument from Eilat stone with an inscription in both Danish and Hebrew, a gift of the people of Israel. King Christian X' grandchild, Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, was the patron of the events marking the 50th anniversary of the rescue operation of Danish Jews. World War II -- Denmark NAZI Invasion (April 9, 1940) The one Allied offensive in the first year of the War was planned to secure Norway. The Germans responded with an offensive north on April 9, invading Denmark and Norway. It was a rapidly organized invasion to counter a planned British attempt to move into Norway to cut off iron shipments. Operation Weserï¿½bung targetted both Denmark and Norway. Denmark had virtually no army. After token resistance at the border, the Danes surrendered before noon. Within hours, Denmark was in NAZI hands. The German Krriegsmarine suffered severe losses, especilly of destroyers.

The British fough on in northern Norway for 3 weeks, but the superiority of the Luftwaffe finally forced them to withdraw. The loss of Norway not only provided Germany access to raw material, but meant that the U-boats could not br bottled up as they were in World war I. It also mean later in the War that supplying Russia would be very difficult. Merchant Marine Denmark was a small nation, but had an important merchant marine. Most of the Danish merchant fleet was at se when the NAZIs invasded and subsequently sailed to Allied ports. The ships proved useful to the hard-pressed Brirish losing ships to the German U-boats in the North Atlantic. The Danish ships were especially important before America entered the War and cthe Liberty Boats began entering service. About 60 per cent of these Danish nerchant ships were sunk by German German U-boats and other units. Approximately 600 Danish merchant seamen were killed transporting supplies for the Allies King Christian X Christian X was born in 1870 at Charlottenlund. He mairred Queen Alexandrine, born Hertuginde, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1898. They had two sons.

Frederick the Crown Prince was born in 1898. Knud was born in 1900. Some of the major achievements of his reign were a new democratic constitution granting the vote to women and the sale of the Virgin Islands to the United States. After the German invasion in 1940 King Christian X decided to remain with his countrymen. The King advised the Danish people not to resist the Germans. The King led his people in passive resistance to attempts to bring the Danes into the NAZI order. The King's bravery was an inspiration to the Danish people, one of the few countries to have sdome success in resisting the Germans. This was in part possible because the Germans with their racially based world view were unwilling to be as brutal in Denmark as they were in other countries like Poland NAZI Occupation The NAZIs invaded and conquered Poland and Demark within the space of a two months. While both countries were close to rach other on the Reich's northern and eastern border. The occupation regimes, however, could not be more different. The barbarity let loose on Poland was not in evidence in Demark.

The difference was essentially that the Poles were Slavs and the Germans saw the Danes as fellow Teutons. General Falkenhorst gave clear orders to his men about how they should conduct themselves. The NAZIs allowed the Danish Government to continue to function under close supervision. In the case of Denmark, the German Foreign Ministry administered the occupation. The German occipation was overseen by a Reich Plenipoteniary. The first was a Foreign Ministry diplmat, CecilRenthe-Fink. He was replaced by Werner Best (November 1942). He was assisted by SS-officer Friedrich Franz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Best was not given control over NAZI security forces operating in the country. Denmark continued to formally a sovereign state. This status was dramatically different than the other countries occupied by the NAZI. Racial affinities were the primary factor here as well as cultural afinities. The NAZIs did not ban political parties. Denmark remained a parlimentary democracy subject to a totalitarizn dictatorship. The Germans had the right to demand that any cabinent officer be removed. And they used this authority on several occassions.

Minister of Trade John Christmas Mï¿½ller was found to be too pro-British. Minister of Justice Harald Petersen was found to lack resolution in dealing with Danes incolved in a brawl with German soldiers at a fooball game (Danes/Admiral Wien). The Germans demanded the military be reduced by half and placed significant contraints on the country's foreign policy. The Danes formed a four Party coalition government headed by Thorvald Stauning. Erik Scavenius was appointed foreign minister (July 1940). After the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), German authorities forced the Danish government to acquiese in the formation of a Danish unit to participate, albeit a volunteer unit. A few Danes volunteered and served with the Wehrmact on the Eastern front. German authorities also demanded that authorities ban the Communist Party. Under German pressure, the Danish Government joined the Anti-Comintern Pact (November 1941). Stauning died unexpectatly (May 1942). He was replaced by Vilhelm Buhl who, however, soon proved unacceptable to the Germans.

They forced him to resign (November 1942). He was replaced by Foreign Miister Scavenius. German Occupation Goals The NAZis did not have the racial goals in Denmark that they had in Poland and the East. The intrest in Denmark was to 1) exploit the country economically to support the war effort and 2) make the Danes and Denmark part of the New Order leading to a greater Reich after the War. For the Danish people, there was a minimal German imprint. Few German soldiers werre seen on Danish streerts. Life went on much as before the invasion. The major impact was in the economic sphere. After the military occupation was secured, the German Foreign Ministry attempted to negotiate or more precisely implement an economic union with Denmark (summer 1940). Then Goering and his Four-Year Plan attempted to oversee the Danish economy. Eventually the Reich Economics Ministry took control. The Germans abandoned the idea of economic union. The German persued more limited measures. They established a ministerial Eastern Committee to expand Danish industry in the Eastern areas seized by the Barbarossa offensive (June 1941). The overall NAZI goal was to become the economic center of a self-sufficient continental Europe.

Thus German could function and continue the War depite the British naval blockade. A major goal in Denmark as in other occupied areas was to obtain food for the Reich. Denmark wa a food exporter, especially dairy products. Much of that food was marketed in Britain. After the German invasion, agricultural production was redirected to the Reich. [Lund] Here the Germans were very successful. Before the War, less than 25 of Danish exports went to the Reich (1939). This rapidly shifted and the Reich was soon receiving 75 percent of Danish exports (1941). Estimates suggest that during the War, the Danes supplied 10-15 percent of the Reich's food supplies. Also important was Danish cement and naval shipyards. The shipments to Germany without any counterflow of German products caused economuic problems in Denmark. Danes experienced price inflation. The Government was forced to impose food rationing. Birthday Snunb (November 1942) The German occupation of Denmark was a great success economically for the NAZIs, obtaining food and other supplies with a minimal military occupation force--only about 200 Germans. Denmark was also a propaganda show case for the NAZIs.

This was not enough for some Germans--namely German Fï¿½hrer Adolf Hitler. He also wanted obedience and a degree of obsequenous from his conquered subjects. Not to mention the fact that they were resisting on the Jewish question. It was no secret in NAZI circles how to gain the Fï¿½hrer's ear and plum political appointments. NAZI syncophants brought to Hitler's attention that the Danes were being codeled and allowed to thumb their nose at the Reich. This was brought to a head on King Christian's 72nd Birthday. Hitler sent the King a long, lauditory telegram (September 26, 1942). The King replied with just a few words acknowledging receipt of the telegram--'Spreche Meinen besten Dank aus. Chr. Rex' (Giving my best thanks, King Chr.). This was not the way Hitler expected to be treated by his satrapies. He was furious and considered the King's telegram an intentional insult. Hitler decided on a major shakeup in the occupation regime. Hitler dispatched Geberal Hannecken to Copehagen.

He was a soldier left out of major commands an anxious to demostrate his miitary skills and political loyalty. Hitler replaced Renthe-Fink with SS-Grupenfï¿½hrer Werner Best whom he instructed to adopt hard-line policies for the recalcitrant Danes (early November). Danish Primeminister Bï¿½hl resigned in favor of Erik Scavenius who formed a nominally more pro-German Government. But the Government was still based on the Democratic parties in Parliament. Most importantly, the Danish Nazis were not allowed to join the Government. The changes appeared to have mollified Hitler for the time and prevented a massive German intervention. Perhaps fortunately for the Danes, Hitler's attention was diverted when the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, cutting off the 6th Army in Stalingrad (November 19). It is not clear why the Germans were faviorable toward Scavenius. But there was a big difference between April 1940 and November 1942. whatever his policies, Scavenius could read a map and beginning in October 1942, German military forces suffered a series of staggering military reverses.

Danish NAZIs (DNSAP) Several pro-NAZI parties organized in Denmark. This was not because there was a lot of NAZI sentiment, but because there was no one individual leader who emerged to dominate the movement. The largest party was the Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti (DNSAP, National Socialist Workersï¿½ Party of Denmark) was the Danish NAZI Party with no pretense of local origins. The party was organized after the dtunning NAZI success in the German Reichstag elections (1930). The DNSAP mimiked Hitler's NAZIs, using both the swastika as the Party symbol and and the German NAZI. They set up aara-military group which they called the SA. They even translated the Horst Wessel song as a Party anthemn. The DNSAP adopted the NAZIs virulent antisemitic. Cay Lembcke helped found the Party, but proved unable to gain even minimal support. Frits Clausen replaced him (1933). Clausen was a physcian from North Schleswig where he concentrated his activities.

The support for the DNSAP was largely located there, in large part because of the German ethnic population located there. The party won nearly 2 oercent of the vote and three seats in the Folketing (parliament) (1939). Clausen and the DNSAP supported the German invasion (April 1940). He expected to be rewarded with control of the Danish Government. German Plenipoteniary Renthe-Fink considered the possibility, but decided that cooperation with the elected Danish government was the more prudent course, at least until Germany had won the war. The DNSAP received some financial and political support from Germany, but not political power. The DNSAP was not evem included in the wartime coalition government (1940-43). As Germany allowed the Danisg Government considerable autonomy, it did not interfere when the Government arrested 350 Danish Nazis who were demonstrating (December 1940). The DNSAP's youth movement was the National Socialistiske Ungdom (NSU). After the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union, the Danish Government allowed a volunteer force to be recruited. The DNSAP was responsible for organizong a Waffen SS and Frikorps Danmark.

The DNSAP participated in the elections permitted by the Germans (March 1943), but Clausem and the Danish NAZIs managed to garmer only 2 percent of the vote in the parliamentary election. A crestfallen Clausen decided to join the campaign against the Soviets and joined a Waffen-SS medical unit. Service in the East was a way that NAZI loyalists in the occupied countries established their credentials with NAZI officials. Clausen in a druken stupor forced himself upon nurses in a field hispital in Minsk. Himmler transferred him to an asylum in Wï¿½rzburg. After the Germans seized control of the Danish Government (August 1943), the position improved slightly, but the most important collaborationist group became the Schalburg Corps, modeled on the SS with black uniforms. They numbered about 1,000 men. [Thomsen] The Danish Government dissolved the DNSAP after liberation by the British (May 1945). Parlimentary Elections (March 1943) A quite remarable event occurred in 1943, unique in the NAZI Empire.

The NAZIs apparently thinking the Government changes made earlier as a result of the so-called Birthday Snub reflected a shift toward Germany, permitted the Danes to hold free and open parlimentary elections. (The Communists had been supressed, but the democrativ parties were allowed to particvipate along with the Danish NAZIs. It was the only free election permitted in NAZI-occupied Europe during the War. It is not altogether clear why the NAZIs allowed the election. The NAZIs believed for some reason that right-wing parties might gain strength producing a parliament more sympathetic to Germany. Why they believed this is unclear. The science of polling was just developing in America and apparently non-existencet in Germany. And it is likely many anes would have been unlikely to be too open about their politics. The Danes voted strongly to support the four major pre-War democratic parties. This was a stunning rejection of the NAZIs and their local supporters. A factor here was surely the War news with stunning German defeats in the Soviet Union and North Africa as well as the impact of deteriorating conditions resulting from NAZI plundering of the economy.

The Danish NAZIs garnered a mere 2 percent of the vote and most of that was the German ethnic minority vote. The Germans were shocked at the results. Figure 2.--Many everyday activities in Denmark were unaffected by the German occupation until late in the War. This is a snapshot from a World War II album about a 1943 summer camp. The boys enjoyed beach and swimming ctivities. They sleft in a hayloft. Home Front Living conditions in Denmark were better than anywhere else in NAZI occupied Europe. This was in large measure because of NAZI racial policy. Denmark like the Netherlands and Norway were countries tht Hitler eventually wanted to include in a an Aryan greater-Germany after the War. With no racial concerns, Hitler allowed the occupation authorities to pursue a pragmagtic policy designed to best use the country's economy to support the German war effort. For many Danes, life went on much like it did before the German invasion. The schools continued to function. We even see Danish children going to summer camps along the country's extensive coasts. That was something that did not happen in Britain.

Danish politicans, especially after the fall of France, so no alternative, but to cooperate with the Germans. And they had some success in obtaining important concessions from the occupation authorities. The Danish Government was left in tact and largely able to function until late in the War. The Danes held the only democratic election permitted in the NAZI empire. The Danes considered, but ultimtely rejected a customs union with Germany, largely because the Germans insisted on emlininating the Danish krona. [Meyer-Gohde] The Germans did not press the issue, concerned about destabilizing the political situation. The Danes had other successes, including dragging out negotiations over the return of South Jutland to the Reich, baning 'closed-rank uniformed marches' rejected includung National Socialists in the government, successfully conducting a relatively free election, and preventing actions against Jews for 3 years. One of the most devestating aspect of NAZI occupation in occupied countries was food policy. Occupation authorities were primarily concerned with exploiting the local economy and shipping food and other commodities back to the Reich. This was also true in Demark, but the German authorities exerciaed more restraint than in other countries.

And the country's productive agricultural sector was able to keep food consumption levels higher than in other countries. We do not yet have details on rationing in Denmark. One of the mahor problems was inflation. This immediately arose with the German invasion. The German military made extensive purchases on military instalations and supplies after it moved into the country. They paid in military script which they simply printed. The National Bank of Denmark was required to convert the German currency for Danish krona. This essentially meant the Danes had to finance the German occupation as the military script had no real value and could not be spent in the Reiuch even if German products wre available for purchase. The vast sums of military script never was redemed by the Germans. Eventually the Government negotiated a more realistic exchange rate. [Giltner, p. 488.] In addition to inflation and German exploitation of the economy, Denmark's principal economic problem was that manufacturers lost access to raw materials. Denmark had a range of industries, but very few raw materials, virtually all of which had to be imported. Coal and oil were especiially difficult to obtain. The Allied naval blockade cut off the ability of imports evedn if German occupation authorities would have permitted the exports needed to pay for imports.

And Denmark lost its principal trading partner--Britain. Danish economic activity becamne essentially meeting demands made by the occuoation authorities. Here there were a variety of manufacturing operations, especually the production of munitions, but the major German demands was for food proiduced by Danish farmers. Growing Opposition NAZI battlefield losses in 1942 changed minds about the outcome of the War. The ressistance movement began to grow in strength. The 1943 election demonstrated that the Danish peopled rejected the NAZIs. NAZI plundering of the economy gave rise to shortages and inflation, leading to growing public disatisfaction. The Resisance movement slowly grew in strength and begin to oppose the Germans through strikes and sabatoge (Summer 1943). Here the British aware of the Danish support for the German war effort decided to to use the Special Operations Execurive (SOE) to insert teams to help the Ramish resistance. Soon sabatoge attacks were occurring at the impressive rate of 20 a week. There were also spotaneous strikes in Odense and North Jutland. This was the end of the passive Danish acceptance og German rule.

The strikes centered on Danish factories supporting the German war effort.Wehrmacht commanders at first feared an Allied invasion. General Hannecken reported on the disturbances to Hitler who took a personal interest in the Danish developmemts. Hitler summoned Best to his Wolf's Lair Headquaters in Rastenburg. Best was not called for consulations, but to be informed of Hitler's decesion as to deal with the Danes. The Germans delivered an ultimatum to the Fanish Government requiring it to supress the civil disturbances. The German authorities demanded that the Danish Government approve the death penalty for sabotage, cooperate in actions against Jews, and supress strikes with force. NAZI Seizure of Government: Putch (August 1943) The Government refused to move against the Jews or to use violence against striking workers and thus rejected the German ultimatum (August 29). The exasperated NAZIs declared a state of emergency and seized control of the Government. General Hannecken activated Operation Safari. He disarmed and interned what remained of the the Danish Army. While the Army did not resist, the Navy did.

And after a fierce fight scuttled most of their ships to make sure the Germans would be unable to use them before withdrawing to neutral Sweden. The Germans imposed a nighttine curfew. Meetings including strikes of more than five people were banned. The German Reichskommissioner assumed control of the country. The SS was now able to prepare plans to seize Danish Jews. Resistance One of the most effective Danish acts of resistance came from the Danish military. The Danish Army was demobilized, but not totally eliminated. And Danish military officials had access to sensitive German military information which they passed to the Allies thriugh Stockholm where there was a military asttache in the Danish Embasdsy. With the Germans firmly in control of the country and prepared to brutally apply force, the only real options open to the Danes was passive resistance. This would not work in many countries because the NAZIs were prepraring genocide, not only against the Jews, but also the Slavs. The Danes were different. They were a Nordic people, infact more Nordic than the Germans. Thus race hatred and genocide was not an element of NAZI occupation policy, except for the Danish Jews.

The Danish resistance movement began to form in 1941. It was realtively quiet until Danish attitudes toward the NAZIs began to change (1943). The Danish Government that ruled until 1943 essentially played a game of saying one thing to the German occupation forces and then delayed actions for as long as they could. The NAZI authorities became increasingly frustrated. There are maby accounts of ordinary folk worked as slowly as possible and if they could recalibrate a machine to make duff parts they did. It is difficult to tell just how much of this really occurred. Of course after liberation, everyone made such claims. Actually doing such things during the NAZI occupation was very dangerous. The Resiatance targeted the German military and businesses working for the NAZIs with acts of sabotage actions. There was also growing labor unrest. Massive strikes were staged in many Danish cities (1943). The Danish Government resigned and the NAZIs took over the government. Among other actions they imposed a curfew. Workers left work early on the pretext that they had to tend their gardens because the curfew provented them in the evening. In reality some went out to demonstrate, but this was dangerous.

Teenagers and older students did not like passive resistance so they were the ones who carried out many of the acts of sabotague. The NAZIS as in other occupied countries targeted the Danish Jews for deportation, maning of course death. Saving the Danish Jews was the finest achievemebt of the resistance, Danes formed the Danish Freedom Council (DFC) (September 1943). By that time it was increaingly clear that the NAZIs were losing the War. They were, however, firmly in control of Denmark. The DFC was the coordinating prganization for the Resistance. Some of the major actions were clandestine newspapers, intelligence gathering for the Allies, and sabotage designed to disrupt war production. The DFC worked with Danish political figures. Saving Danish Jews (October 1943) The continuation of constitutional government in NAZI-occupied Denmark, meant that the Danes retained control of the police. And to the emense frustration to the Germans, the Danish Government not only refused to cooperate, but adamently refused to order actions against Jews impleted everywhere else in NAZI-occupied Europe. This was not how Hutlkerc expected conquered people to behave.

The NAZIs, after seizing control of the Government (August 1943) finally were in a position to round up Danish Jews. The NAZI occupation authoritiers planned a nation-wide round up all Danish Jews and to then send them to the nearby, fully operational death camps in Poland. The Danish people courageously came to the aid of their Jews. Advanced warning of the roundup was leaked to the underground. Thousands of Danes stepped up to hide Jews and help them escape to nearby Sweden. Before World War II there were 8,000 Jews in Denmark. They could have been dispatched in 1-2 days at Auschwitz-Birnenau if the SS could just get their hands on them. Miraculously 7,500 of them successfully managed to get to Sweden with the assistance of their non-Jewish countrymen (October 1943). The NAZIs only manage to capture a few. It was one of the few successful efforts to save Jews in NAZI-occupied Europe. It was only possiblle, however, because Sweden was so near and by this point in the War, the Swedes no longer had to fear a German invasion.

The Danes not only got the Jews to Sweden, but looked after their homes and other property until liberation and they were able to return. NAZI Terror Reports of NAZI terror reached the Allies. One wire service press reports reads, "A German wave of terror aimed at smashing the Danish underground was reported today to be sweeoing through Denmrk. The Nazis in two weeks of intensive raids were said to have bagged number of prominent resistance leaders, including professor Mogens Fog, leader of the Danish Fredom Council, who is believed to have been slain. Danish circles in Stockholm said it us common to see the Gestapoherding scores od Danes into tucks in Copenhagen for transportation to concentration camps. Refugees reaching Sweden despite the almost irnclad Nazu precautions against escapes tell lurid tales of conditions in Denmark. They said the the German dismissal of the entire 14,000Danish police force on September 19 plunged the country into aave of disorders. Free Danish sources said theGerman presumably decided to take over the policing to break down the underground. ['Nazi terror'] Humanitarian Actions Denmark is amall country with limited capabilities and virtually no military.

The country did its best to remain neutral, as it had in World War I. After the Soviet Union invaded Finland (November 1939), Denmark took in a number of Finnish child evacuees. Most went to Sweden, but the Danish and Norwegians took in a few as well. This could be done without compromising the neutral status adopted by the Scandinavians. The situation in Denmark change radiclly with the NAZI invasion and ensuing occupation. Caring for Finnish evacuee children was still possible although the Finns primarily focused on the Sweeds. We note a Danish businessmen who set up a smll summer camp for a group of Funnish children, many malnourished some sick. This could occur because when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union (June 194), Finlabd became a co-beligerant, thus there was no German opposition to aiding Finish evacuee children. In addition to aiding Finnish evacuees, the Danes carried out one of the great coups of the war. The Germans after killing bmuch of the Jewish population of Poland and the western Soviet Union, finlly turne to Denmrk's smll Jewish community which had been left largely untouchd.

Right under the noses of the Germans, the Danes at great personal danger to the many rescuers saved almost their entire Jewish population, getting them safely to Sweden. It was an action without prescedent in the tragic history of the Holocaust. Liberation (May 1945) Denmark along with Norway were the last NAZI-occupied countries to be liberated. Danes followed war developments on the radio. They knew that the and of the War was near. They did not know, however, if the British or Soviets would reach them first. Or how the Allies would regard them. Unlike the Norwegians there had been considerable collaboration with the Germans. The German forces in the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark surrendered effective (May 5, 1945). The surrender to Field Marshal Montgomery took place at Lï¿½neberg Heath in Germany (6:30 pm, May 4). It did not go into effect until the following day--8:00 AM May 5. The Danes, however, learned as a reslt of a report on the BBC Danish broacast (8:30 PM).

ï¿½This is London ï¿½ I ï¿½At this moment, it is announced that Montgomery has stated that the German troops in the Netherlands, Northwest Germany and Denmark have surrendered.ï¿½ The annoubncer was Johannes G Sï¿½rensen. He was the Danish annoubcer that informed the Danes that their country had been occupied on (April 9, 1940). He later fled to Britain in 1944. The Danes called it their declaration of freedom. The British, however, had not yet reached them. People coud not wait until the next day when the surrender went into effect. They flooded into the streets, waving the Danish flag 'Dannebro' and burning their blackout curtains. Many people also spontaneously placed lit candles in their windows. This became the symbol of liberation and a custom that is still kept up by many Danes. Fortunately for the Danes the British on the northern flank of the allied advance into Germany arrived at the base of the Jutland Pemonsula just days before the Red Army advancing from the East. British forces arrived just as the NAZIs surrendered (May 7-8, 1945).

he next day The Red Army occupied the island of Bornholm after intense fighting with the Germans (May 8). It was not retirned to the Danes until a year later (April 1946). British parachute troops arrived to suprvise the German surrender (May 8). Many Danes were out for revenge. Quite a number of men were shot before civil order was established. Newspapers reported numerous unexlained shootings. Women who were mostly gulty of affairs with German soldiers had their hair cut off and paraded in the street. A few were striped naked and painted with swastikas. Eventually 40,000 people were arrested on charges of collaboration. Over half were found guilty, some 13,500 were fond guilty. There were 78 received death sentences, of which 46 were actually carried out. Most of the others received prison sentences of less than 4 years. The first British troops led by General Richard Dewing arrived in Copenhagen (4:32 May 5). This became Liberation Day--Befrielse Dag. Field Marshall Montgomery made a triuphant entry a week later.

A new government was formed with both representatives of the DFC and major political parties. The Danes voted (Fall 1945), electing a left-of-center government led by Knud Kristensen. Sources Giltner, Phil. "The Success of Collaboration: Denmark's Self-Assessment of its Economic Position after Five Years of Nazi Occupation," Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 36, No. 3 (2001), pp. 483ï¿½506. Lund, Joachim, Denmark and the ï¿½European New Orderï¿½, 1940ï¿½1942 (Cambridge University Press, 2004). Meyer-Gohde, Ruth. "Dï¿½nemarks wirtschaftspolitische Reaktion auf die Besetzung des Landes 1940/41" NORDEUROPAforum No. 2, (2006), pp. 51-70 Thomsen, E. Deutsche Besatzungspolitik in Dï¿½nemark, 1940-1945 (Dï¿½sseldorf, 1971).

"Nazi terror," Sarasota Herald Tribune (October 26, 1944), p.7. The Danish Resistance - History Learning Site The Danish Resistance Citation: C N Trueman "The Danish Resistance" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 18 May 2015. 16 Aug 2016. The Danish Resistance movement during World War Two was in a curious position. In theory, Denmark was not officially at war with Nazi Germany (though clearly Denmark had been illegally occupied by the Germans in 1940 ) as the government had not declared war on Germany. The government and king, Christian X, had made a formal protest but agreed to a German decision that gave Denmark ‘independence’ despite having German troops stationed there against the wishes of the Danish government. So any form of Danish resistance could not be ‘legalised’ by the Allies. Though the government in Copenhagen had accepted as a fait accompli that Denmark had been occupied, many Danes did not. Much of the Danish Navy had sailed to Allied ports and Danish ambassadors abroad had refused to accept their government’s decision. A Danish Resistance movement did exist. Many of those in it had been in the Danish Army.

Those in the resistance were willing to pass on intelligence to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) but refused to get involved in any sabotage operations called for by SOE. Any sabotage that did take place was sanctioned by resistance leaders within Denmark or based in Stockholm. There was an increase in acts of sabotage within Denmark from 1943 on. Up to 1943, the Germans within Denmark had had a relatively easy time – for an occupying force. However, sabotage within Denmark led to a more marked hardening of attitude by the Germans. The arrest of resistance suspects usually led to strikes. This led to more arrests for civil disobedience, which caused more strikes. By August 1943, the situation had become so bad, that the Germans sent the Danish government an ultimatum – they were to declare a state of emergency and they were to condemn to death all captured saboteurs. The government refused to do this and resigned. The Germans responded by formally seizing power and, legally, Denmark became an “occupied country”. It was only after this occurred that the Danish Resistance became legitimised as their actions were now against the Germans. In September 1943, the ‘Danish Freedom Council’ was created.

This attempted to unify the many different groups that made up the Danish resistance movement. The council was made up of seven resistance representatives and one member of SOE . The resistance movement grew to over 20,000 and in the lead-up to D-Day acts of sabotage markedly increased. Though the D-Day landings were to be in Normandy, SOE believed that the more German soldiers tied up elsewhere in Europe, the less that could be present in northern France. Therefore, the more acts of sabotage in Denmark, the more German troops would be tied down there. The Danish Resistance used the country’s proximity to Sweden to great effect. Stockholm became an actual base for the Danish Resistance. Here they were far safer than in Denmark – but they could easily get back to their country. The sea route also allowed the Danish Resistance to get out of the country over 7,000 of Denmark’s 8,000 Jews . Because of this, Denmark had one of the lowest statistical casualty rates for Jews in the war.

Question: Who was King of Denmark during world war two? A regnal number is not needed.
Answer: Christian